NEW CHAPTERS IN THE WARFARE OF SCIENCE. 593 



were not created full of cinders to match the desolation of the 

 Dead Sea, but were growths not uncommon in Asia Minor and 

 elsewhere ; in fact, that all the phenomena were due to natural 

 causes. 



Ritter and others had shown that all noted features of the 

 Dead Sea and the surrounding country were to be found in vari- 

 ous other lakes and regions, to which no supernatural cause was 

 ascribed among enlightened men. Lynch, Van de Velde, Osborne, 

 and others had revealed the fact that the " pillar of salt " was 

 frequently formed anew by the rains ; and Lartet and other 

 geologists had given a final blow to the myths by making it clear 

 from the markings on the neighboring rocks that, instead of a 

 sudden upheaval of the sea above the valley of Siddim, there had 

 been a gradual subsidence for ages.* 



Even before all this evidence was in, a judicial decision had 

 been pronounced upon the whole question by an authority both 

 Christian and scientific, from which there could be no appeal. 

 During the second quarter of the century Prof. Carl Ritter, of the 

 University of Berlin, began giving to the world those researches 

 which have placed him at the head of all geographers ancient or 

 modern, and finally he brought together those relating to the 

 geography of the Holy Land, publishing them as part of his great 

 work on the physical geography of the earth. He was a Chris- 

 tian, and nothing could be more reverent than his treatment of 

 the whole subject ; but his German honesty did not permit him 

 to conceal the truth, and he simply classed together all the stories 

 of the Dead Sea old and new no matter where found, whether 

 in the sacred books of Jews, Christians, or Mohammedans ; 

 whether in lives of saints or accounts of travelers, as " myths " 

 and " sagas." 



From this decision there has never been among intelligent 

 men any appeal. 



* For Seetzen, see his " Reisen," edited by Kruse, Berlin, 1854-'59; for the "Dead 

 Sea Fruits," vol. ii, p. 231 et seq. ; for the appearance of the sea, etc., p. 243, and else- 

 where ; for the Arab transformation explanatory legends, vol. iii, pp. 7, 14, 17. As to 

 similarity of the " pillars of salt " to columns washed out by rains elsewhere, see Kruse's 

 "Commentary" in vol. iv, p. 240; also Fallmerayer, i, 197. For Irby and Mangles, see 

 work already cited. For Robinson, see his " Biblical Researches," London, 1841 ; also his 

 "Later Biblical Researches," London, 1866. For Lynch, see his " Narrative," London, 

 1849. For Gratz, see his " Schauplatz der Heyl. Schrift.," pp. 186, 187. For De Saulcy, 

 see his "Voyage autour de la Mer Morte," Paris, 1853, especially vol. i, p. 262, and his 

 journal of early months of 1851, in vol. ii, comparing with it his work with the same title 

 published in 1858 in the " Bibliotheque Catholique de Voyages et Romans," vol. i, pp. 78- 

 81. For Lartet, see his papers read before Geographical Society at Paris; also citations in 

 Robinson ; but, above all, his elaborate reports which form the greater part of the second 

 and third volumes of the monumental work which bears the name of De Luynes, already 

 cited. For exposures of De Saulcy's credulity and errors, see Van de Velde, " Syria and 

 Palestine," passim ; also Canon Tristram's " Land of Israel " ; also De Luynes, passim. 

 vol. xxxvi. 38 



